BACKGROUND Although medication costs make up a large and growing portion of health care costs, few interventions have successfully encouraged physicians to alter prescribing patterns. METHODS To promote the use of an open formulary, we altered the contents of the sample closets of five primary care practices in eastern Massachusetts. In these practices, we removed all nonformulary drugs in fi...

An empirical study in Lower Saxony aimed to investigate any changes in primary care physicians' diagnostic and therapeutic strategies as a result of Germany's 1993 health reform act (known as the Gesundheitsstruktur Gesetz or GSG), which included the countrywide implementation of a strict drug budget. A sentinel network consisting of a 37% sample of 350 randomly selected doctors (n = 130, GPs, ...

So-called excess growth in Medicare spending per beneficiary has varied widely and has slowed in recent years. The annual rate of excess growth fell from 5.6 percent during 1975-1983, to 2.1 percent during 1983-1997, to only 0.5 percent during 1997-2005. Changes in payment policies and regulations can help explain the observed slowdown. These include new prospective payment systems for hospital...

MANAGED HEALTH CARE EFFECTS: MEDICAL CARE COSTS AND ACCESS TO HEALTH INSURANCE

this study aimed at identifying components of the household health costs.this study was a qualitative research conducted in two main phases. the first phase consisted of interviews with sample households selected in eight provinces of iran. they were to identify components of the household health costs. in the second phase, components were determined as direct, indirect and intangible based on ...

BACKGROUND In most countries chronic diseases lead to high health care costs and reduced productivity of people in society. The best way to reduce costs of health sector and increase the empowerment of people is prevention of chronic diseases and appropriate health activities management through monitoring of patients. To enjoy the full benefits of E-health, making use of methods and modern tech...

The sustainability of the healthcare system has been in question for several years. With rising healthcare costs, limited resources and an aging population, society needs to come up with innovative ideas to reduce healthcare spending. This paper attempts to illustrate how addressing goals of care can have a significant impact on healthcare costs.

Globally, healthcare service delivery faces many challenges that transcend regional and national boundaries. Population growth, increased life expectancy, increasingly stringent regulatory and compliance requirements, and demand for more and better access to quality care are driving up healthcare costs and creating a chronic shortage of skilled professionals. Continuing to deliver healthcare se...

Much evidence points to the fact that managed care plans (health maintenance organizations and preferred provider insurance) reduce costs and offer value for money. Yet they apparently have not helped to slow national health expenditures. One explanation is that the practices of purchasers (including government and employers), the tax laws, and other market imperfections have reduced the demand...

In the United States, pregnant women and children's eligibility for Medicaid was expanded dramatically during the 1980s and early 1990s. By lowering pregnancy and child health care costs, the Medicaid expansions may have increased the incentives for women to have children. To investigate this possibility, we examine whether state-level birth and abortion rates are related to the extent of state...